LOCATION IONIA MI+OH WIEstablished Series
TAXONOMIC CLASS: Fine-loamy over sandy or sandy-skeletal, mixed, semiactive, mesic Oxyaquic Hapludalfs
TYPICAL PEDON: Ionia sandy loam - cultivated. (Colors are for moist soil unless otherwise stated).
Ap--0 to 8 inches; dark brown (10YR 3/3) sandy loam, pale brown (10YR 6/3) dry; moderate fine granular structure; friable; many fine roots; 2 percent gravel; neutral; abrupt smooth boundary. (5 to 9 inches thick)
E--8 to 11 inches; brown (10YR 5/3) sandy loam; moderate medium platy structure; friable; many fine roots; 2 percent gravel; medium acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 5 inches thick)
BE--11 to 18 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) sandy clay loam; weak medium subangular blocky structure; friable; common very fine roots; 2 percent gravel; medium acid; clear wavy boundary. (0 to 7 inches thick)
Bt1--18 to 23 inches; dark yellowish brown (10YR 4/4) clay loam; few fine distinct yellowish red (5YR 4/8) mottles; moderate medium angular blocky structure; firm; few very fine roots; 4 percent gravel; few faint continuous brown (10YR 5/3) clay films on faces of peds; very strongly acid; gradual wavy boundary. (4 to 8 inches thick)
Bt2--23 to 34 inches; dark brown (7.5YR 4/4) clay loam; common medium distinct red (2.5YR 4/6) and few fine distinct brown (10YR 5/3) mottles; strong medium angular blocky structure; firm; few faint continuous brown (10YR 5/3) clay films on faces of peds; few very fine roots; medium acid; clear wavy boundary. (6 to 11 inches thick)
BC--34 to 38 inches; dark reddish brown (5YR 3/4) sandy loam; few fine prominent grayish brown (10YR 5/2) mottles; massive; friable; 4 percent gravel; slightly acid; abrupt irregular boundary. (0 to 4 inches thick)
2C--38 to 60 inches; grayish brown (10YR 5/2) and light yellowish brown (10YR 6/4) gravelly sand; single grain; loose; 20 percent gravel; strong effervescence.
TYPE LOCATION: Ionia County, Michigan; about 2.5 miles south of Ionia; 1100 feet west and 25 feet south of center, sec. 6, T. 6 N., R. 6 W.
RANGE IN CHARACTERISTICS: Solum thickness, depth to carbonates and depth to the gravelly substratum ranges from 24 to 40 inches. Gravel content by volume is less than 10 percent in the A, Bw, and Bt horizons; 0 to 25 percent in the BC horizon and 5 to 35 percent in the 2C horizon. Reaction in the solum ranges from slightly acid to very strongly acid in the upper part and medium acid to neutral near the contact with the carbonate rich substratum. Under cultivated conditions the Ap and E horizons may range to neutral.
The Ap horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 3 or 4 and chroma of 2 or 3. It is sandy loam, loam, or silt loam. Undisturbed pedons have A horizons with hue of 10YR, value of 2 or 3, chroma of 1 or 2, and range from 3 to 6 inches thick.
The E horizon is mixed in with the A horizon in some cultivated areas. Where present, it has hue of 10YR, value of 5 and chroma of 2 or 3. It is sandy loam, loam, or silt loam.
The BE horizon has hue of 10YR or 7.5YR, value of 4 to 6, and chroma of 3 to 6. In some places the BE horizon has bleached coatings on surface of peds. It is sandy loam, loam, or sandy clay loam.
The Bt horizons have hue of 10YR, 7.5YR, or 5YR, value of 3 to 5, and chroma of 3 to 6. They are loam, sandy clay loam, clay loam, or silty clay loam. The depth to mottling ranges from 16 to 34 inches. Mottles with low chroma occur below the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon. Clay films are faint or distinct and in the Bt horizons.
The BC horizon has hue of 10YR, 7.5YR or 5YR, value of 3 to 5 and chroma of 3 or 4. It is loamy sand, sandy loam, sandy clay loam, or their gravelly analogues. This horizon is mottled, and commonly the mottles have chroma of 2 or less. In places tongues of BC extend into the 2C horizon from 6 inches to several feet.
The 2C horizon has hue of 10YR, value of 5 or 6 and chroma of 2 to 4. It is sand or gravelly sand.
COMPETING SERIES: These are the Bixby, Casco, Fox, and Hixton soils. Similar soils are the Boyer, Dresden, Kalamazoo, Lapeer, Matherton, Miami, Ockley, Perrin, Sisson, and Volinia series. Bixby soils have more acid lower sola and lack carbonates in the C horizon above depths of 40 inches. Casco soils have sola less than 24 inches thick. Fox soils do not have low chroma mottles in the lower part of the solum. Hixton soils have sandstone bedrock within 40 inches. Boyer and Perrin soils are coarse-loamy. Dresden soils have thicker, darker colored A or Ap horizons. Kalamazoo and Ockley soils have thicker and generally more acid sola and have calcareous sand at depths greater than 40 inches. Lapeer, Miami, and Sisson soils do not have gravelly sand substratums. Matherton soils have low chroma mottles in the upper 10 inches of the argillic horizon. Volinia soils have mollic epipedons.
GEOGRAPHIC SETTING: The Ionia soils are on outwash plains, terraces, valley trains, and ground moraines. Slope gradients range from 0 to 6 percent, but typically are 0 to 2 percent. Mean annual precipitation is 25 to 35 inches, and the mean annual temperature is about 45 degrees to 57 degrees F.
GEOGRAPHICALLY ASSOCIATED SOILS: The Ionia soils are the moderately well drained member of a drainage sequence that includes the well drained Fox, somewhat poorly drained Matherton, and poorly drained Sebewa soils.
DRAINAGE AND PERMEABILITY: Moderately well drained. Surface runoff is slow on nearly level areas, and medium on the gentle slopes. Permeability is moderate in the loamy upper part of the profile and rapid or very rapid in the substratum.
USE AND VEGETATION: Most areas are used for general farming. The principal crops are corn, beans, small grains, and legume-grass hay. Some areas support a native vegetation of mixed hardwoods including northern red oak, sugar maple, shagbark hickory, and American beech.
DISTRIBUTION AND EXTENT: Southern Michigan, Indiana, western Ohio, and southeastern Wisconsin. This series is of moderate extent.
MLRA OFFICE RESPONSIBLE: Indianapolis, Indiana
SERIES ESTABLISHED: Ionia County, Michigan, 1965.
REMARKS: Classification adjusted to agree with ST Idduer #17 on 6 Sept 94 by CLG. Diagnostic horizons and properties recognized in this pedon are: ochric epipedon - the zone from the surface to 8 inches (Ap horizon); argillic horizon - the zone from 18 to 34 inches (Bt1 and Bt2 horizons).